Ivan Update

I heard from Mom yesterday. She couldn't get down to the house because of a gas leak on Gulf Beach Highway -- and yes, that's as close to the water as it sounds. Some people on the opposite side of the road from her had major damage from the storm surge, but I don't think she's close enough to the gulf for that. I'm just hoping the roof is still on when she gets back.

I have no idea when I'll be headed down there. In fact, right now I don't even have a car -- it's having fuel pump replacement surgery done on it to the tune of almost $600. Ah, the carefree life of a seminarian!!

On the bright side, I think I did well on my first Hermeneutics exam. I guess that's something, anyway.

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Breaking (sort of) News!

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. announced Sept. 16 the establishment of the Center for Science and Theology along with the appointment of renowned philosopher of science William A. Dembski as its first director.

I actually heard about this at 11 this morning, but I didn't have time to post it until now. Otherwise, i might have even scooped Baptist Press on this one, if only by a few seconds.

That's why I need to get that wireless card for my PDA.....

I'm looking forward to taking a class or two from Dr. Dembski. Of course, it may take me longer to graduate if I do that ...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 05:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Lockout

Training camp for the 2004-2005 NHL season has NOT started as usual. The story is here from NHL.com.

I'm looking for a script that will count up from today, just to keep track of how many days without hockey I have to go. I figure withdrawl will start sometime in early November.

{edit} Already, I want to say more about this. This will be fairly uncharacteristic of this blog, so I ask for your forgiveness in advance.

Gary Bettman' comments are an interesting read. Of course, Bob Goodenow contradicts pretty much everything he says. And Trevor Linden gives a good view of the players' perspective.

I'm really not sure where I stand on this. I don't like unions -- in fact, I think that in most cases, labor unions have outlived their usefulness. I think that there are cases where labor unions have actually (long term) cost their members their jobs, because of unwillingness to cooperate with "management". I think that atheletes in general are overpaid -- I recognize the fact that their athletic careers are short, but I haven't seen many former athletes who weren't able to get a good job after their retirement from competition. I can understand them opposing a salary cap, and I don't really think a salary cap will work as well as the owners think it will.

I think the fact that the NHLPA didn't strike shows that they are willing to work things out with the owners. If the owners stick to their idea of a salary cap -- in whatever form -- we won't have hockey this year. I'm a bit irritated with both sides -- they've had a long time to try and work this out, and so far they are as far apart as they were when they started.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:52 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Storm Tracking

Blogging might be a bit light in the next few days. My Mom lives in Pensacola, FL, and it looks like Ivan might be headed up her driveway.

We've talked her into heading for shelter further inland, but she doesn't really want to leave. I was planning on heading down there this evening/tomorrow early morning, but she doesn't want me to come.

So far, she hasn't even gotten plywood for her windows, because she doesn't know how to put it up, and probably couldn't do it herself anyway. Of course, her neighbors are all ready for the storm.

So most of my Internet time is going to be spent at www.noaa.gov, watching the storm and it's projected path. And hoping it blows a different direction -- preferably backwards out to sea.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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9/11 Three Years Later

This is pretty much a required post today. All over the blogosphere, people are writing about 9/11 and its impact on them.

Three years ago, I was in front of a classroom full of highschool sophomores. I didn't even know about the attack until almost 10 AM, because I was teaching. Actually, long-term substituting for my wife, who had just had our daughter a month before. She was here in Ohio because her grandmother had dies -- I had flown home on September 10th, so I could teach.

Second period was my planning, so I walked into the Social Sutdies faculty room, where the TV was on to Fox News (as usual). I saw the familiar outline of the World Trade Center, and smoke coming from the top. I was glued to the TV until the bell rang for third period.

Of course, by then the kids all had heard. The rest of the day -- in fact, for most of the rest of the week -- we watched the news and talked about what happened. "Are we at war?", "Are they going to attack here?", "Is the school safe?" -- all questions I had to deal with, and "I don't know" wasn't a good enough answer. "At war with whom? These are terrorists", "Why would they attack a little town south of Atlanta? What do we have here?", "If the school wasn't safe, they'd send us home" (which was exactly what they were hoping for). Soon, classes turned into a series of lessons on the modern history of terrorism (Entebbe, the '72 Olympics, etc.), the motivations of the Islamic terrorists (US support of Israel, out troops in Saudi Arabia, etc.). It took a little effort, but I found a way for the kids to learn something out of the ordeal.

Of course, when I got home I was different. My first concern was for my wife and newborn daughter, who were 13 hours away. We spent a lot of time on the phone that night, then I called my Mom and sister. I was most worried about Mom, who lives a mile from NAS Pensacola. She was fine, but had noticed a LOT more aircraft in the air than ever before. And there was heavy security at the gate when she went to the national cemetary to visit my Dad's grave.

A lot has happened in the last three years. We are accepting some things that we never would have before. Some of the things we should expect, since we are at war. Some of the things we need to make sure stop when peace is restored. But I think that it is very safe to say that in another 50-100 years, historians teaching US history will differentiate between the US pre-9/11 and the US post-9/11. Because this nation will never be the same again.

I'm not sure yet if that's a good thing or not.

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